South Carolina Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Data

Week Ending June 27, 2020

Initial Claims: For claim week ending June 27, 2020, the number of South Carolinians who filed their initial claim for unemployment insurance benefits is 16,959, a decrease of 139 initial claims from the week prior. This brings the initial claims total to 635,688 received since mid-March.

County Map (Intrastate)

“While the number of people seeking first time unemployment assistance fell, the state is not seeing the movement week-over-week for which we hoped,” said Dan Ellzey, Executive Director, S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.

“There are still a lot of questions and unknowns as to what the future will hold, how long this economic stall will go on and what the true magnitude of the impact will truly be. However, what we know is when the virus initially caused the economic shut down in March, job cuts were highly concentrated in the restaurant, travel, hospitality and retail industries. While those industries are still feeling the residual impact, the effect is continuing to spread to other sectors like professional services, manufacturing and health care as sustained weeks of hardship drag on,” continued Ellzey.

“Yesterday our agency announced the launch of the Extended Benefits (EB) program, which offers up to an additional 10 weeks of UI benefits after a claimant exhausts their Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). We will continue to provide support through this and all of the UI programs, as well as our numerous reemployment services. We will maintain our focus on the work that’s in front of us and help as many people as possible through this crisis,” concluded Ellzey.

Agency Responsiveness:

• From March 15, 2020 to June 30, 2020, the agency has paid more than $2.72 Billion in a combination of South Carolina UI benefits, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (for the self-employed and others), the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation ($600 per week) program and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (extension of benefits for 13 weeks) program.

Call center hours (1-866-831-1724)

Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.

PLEASE NOTE: The Call Center will be closed July 3 & July 4 in observance of Independence Day.

About the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce

The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce is putting South Carolinians to work. The agency has four missions: (1) workforce development; (2) free job match employment services; (3) unemployment insurance; and (4) labor market information. All four missions contribute to workforce development. The agency is dedicated to advancing South Carolina through services and programs that meet the needs of our businesses, jobseekers and those looking to advance their careers.